


Who is Iron Man?

by Windfighter



Series: Come fly with me (Avengers) [2]
Category: Marvel, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Blood and Injury, Gen, Hurt Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 17:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19835065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windfighter/pseuds/Windfighter
Summary: Iron Man's identity isn't actually a secret (Tony literally told the world he was Iron Man a year ago), it's just that the proof available points in another direction. A mistake during a battle will make the world finally catch up.





	Who is Iron Man?

**Author's Note:**

> For the "Wing Fic"-square of the Iron Man-bingo and I decided to use it as a bad excuse to expand a little on the Come fly with me-series. This story should be somewhat readable on its own but one thing that's not properly explained here is that it's a soulmate AU where you find your soulmate through skin-contact (and when you do your wings change color), but the soulmate-part isn't important for this story.
> 
> Story didn't turn out quite how I wanted it but eh, it's good enough and I hope you'll enjoy it!

Iron Man didn't have wings and in a world where everyone did it should be easy to find Iron Man's secret identity. The theories exploded across the internet and TV-stations. A war-veteran who had lost their wings. A mutant born without them. A cancer patient who had been forced to remove them. An alien that had escaped from Area 51. Tony snorted every time JARVIS repeated another theory to him. He had said on live television that he was Iron Man and for a while a few people had believed him, but after a photo taken of him during a beach visit had spread he had been accused of lying since his wings had been clearly visible. Iron Man didn't have wings.

”If it had been prosthetic wings I would have believed him”, Clint Barton said and winked at the camera, ”but they're clearly real.”

”Et tu, Clint?” Tony asked the television, but smiled.

”Aren't both Iron man and Tony Stark part of the Avengers?”

”Tony only builds our gear, we have no idea who the man behind the armor is.”

Bruce sat down in the couch next to Tony.

”On a break?”

”Yeah, Jarvis is crunching numbers and he said Clint was on the television so I figured I'd see what he was up to now."

”Talking about you from what it looks like.”

”Most people do”, Tony laughed.

They watched the rest of the interview. Clint listed all the reasons why Tony couldn't be Iron Man and Tony sank deeper in the couch.

”You know he doesn't mean those things”, Bruce said.

”I know.”

”How do you hide your wings though? I've been wondering.”

”You can't tell Steve.”

”Oof, it's bad?”

”Yeah. Armor's thinner in the back.”

”That's really not good.”

”It's still strong enough to withstand most force but yeah. So in that way I'm glad I have a team literally watching my back now.”

The interview ended and Tony got up from the couch, stretched and smiled at Bruce.

”Catch you later, Brucie-bear. Jarvis should be done with the numbers now.”

”Yeah, see you later.”

Bruce grabbed the remote, laid down in the couch and Tony headed back to his workshop to continue working.

Of course, once your weakness has been exposed it's only par for the course that it will be used against you. Tony had always known it was a risk, but it had been one he was willing to take (one he regretted afterwards). Although expected he would still like to know if they had known to aim at Tony's back or if it had just been a lucky hit.

It was another battle for New york (but when wasn't it?), doombots were running wild, one building had already been levelled with the ground. Tony and Natasha had managed to evacuate it just before it fell, but it had been a close call. The battle was nearing its end, Tony's eyes were on the ground to make sure his teammates were safe. Clint's warning came one second too late.

”Iron Man, look out!”

A doombot landed on his back, exploded. Tony's armor broke, his back burned, his wings... The ground was approaching fast and he stretched his wings as far as he could, gritted his teeth against the pain that was always present in them since Afghanistan. The ground was still approaching way too fast, the wind resistance his wings provided was uneven, the right one could be stretched just a little bit straighter than the left, enough to make him land awkwardly, his left wing taking the blunt of his weight. He bit back a scream, skidded across the ground. He left a trail of blood, feathers and metal behind him before finally coming to a halt.

”Iron Man! Are you okay?!”

Tony's head was swimming, then Steve's hand was on his shoulder, squeezed and grounded him. Tony buried his face in his arms, something was pressing uncomfortable against his stomach, his left wing was close to a ten on the painscale and his right wing ached badly as well. He groaned.

”Again. Always the wings. Shit.”

Steve squeezed his shoulder again.

”You stay there, I'll protect you and then we'll get you to medical, okay?”

Tony wanted to protest, Stark men are made of iron, but he knew he was out, knew he would faint if he tried to move. He sighed, forced a smile and turned to Steve.

”At least it wasn't kidnappers that destroyed it this time. Should heal better now.”

Steve looked confused and Tony realized he would have to explain it later. He let his head fall down again, it felt heavy and darkness was dancing at the edges of his vision. Steve nodded, went back to work, to take care of the last doombots, and Tony focused on taking even breaths, on clinging to consciousness. It was a battle he lost sooner than he thought he would.

Medical wanted to keep him there, but once he was out of surgery, patched up and filled with painkillers he refused to stay and they agreed to let him out if he promised to take it easy. He promised, although he wasn't planning to keep it for more than a couple of days. Steve picked him up and Tony expected a scolding since he was wearing his Captain America(tm)-face, but Steve smiled (which looked really weird since the rest of his face was still frowning) and gestured towards a wheelchair. Tony raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

”I can walk, it's just my wings.”

”Uh-huh. But I can tell you're still dizzy from surgery.”

Tony wanted to protest, only because it was Steve and Steve always pulled out his need to make everything difficult, but as he pushed himself off the bed he stumbled and only managed to avoid falling because Steve was there to catch him. Tony panicked for two seconds, but Steve was completely covered, none of his skin exposed so it could touch Tony's by mistake. Tony himself only wore the hospital gown, his own clothes too torn from the battle and landing to keep, and he felt naked in it. Steve helped him sit down in the wheelchair, took him out from the medbay and to the living room. One of the couches had been removed, replaced with a bed that Bruce and Natasha was filling with pillows and blankets. Tony gaped.

”This should be better for your wings”, Bruce explained. ”How are they?”

”Cotton”, Tony laughed. ”Can I change into clothes first?”

”Of course.”

It was Steve who continued helping him. He wheeled Tony to his bedroom, helped him into a pair of sweatpants. Finding a shirt Tony could get dressed in without removing the braces for his wings proved harder and Steve gave him an awkward smile.

”Think you'll be okay without one?”

”Do I have a choice?” He let out a sigh. ”I'll be fine, just don't stare or touch me.”

”You can hide under a blanket.”

”Heh, yeah, okay.”

They returned, Thor helped Tony get into the bed as Steve slipped away to change into softer clothes. Bruce put pillows around his wings to make him more comfortable and with the painkillers still in his system he started dozing off. Clint started the television while they decided what movie to watch and of course it ended up being a news station (Steve always watched the news in the mornings when he was back from his runs) and _of course_ it was showing footage from their latest battle.

THE IDENTITY OF IRON MAN UNCOVERED

Tony groaned as he had to watch the doombot explode and his armor falling apart over and over again. He winced as they showed the crashlanding, which looked a lot worse than it had felt.

TONY STARK IS IRON MAN

The others laughed and Tony tried to wipe his exasperated look from his face. He failed and pulled the blanket over his head instead, somehow managing to not snag it in his wings.

”I literally  _told_ them I was iron Man a year ago.”

Clint laughed again.

”Yeah, but you have to admit the lack of wings was suspicious.”

”It was to make it more aerodynamic!”

He sighed, pulled the blanket down and smiled at Clint.

”At least now you won't have to lie about me again.”

Clint shot him a smile, then Steve returned and took the spot closest to the bed. Natasha got up, started a movie (”Jarvis can do that you know!” ”I know, but I enjoy the extra work-out.”) and Iron Man's revealed identity was soon forgotten again.


End file.
